Browser Woe

I have inherited an old iBook G4 with the 10.4.11 OS The new chrome and Safari do not work with this OS and the current browsers do not seem to support any websites properly. My blogger dashboard doesn't load properly etc. Is there a simple setting I can change or a free upgrade I can get without upgrading the OS? Is it possible to upgrade the OS cheaply/free without buying more RAM

How much RAM do you have? The latest version of Tiger is what is officially supported on the G4's, but there are lots of people running Leopard it looks like once they upgrade the RAM to maximum 1GB or whatever.

Upgrading to Leopard will allow you run most of the newer browsers/software too..

However, upgrading to Leopard would require you find the full installation disc that can run upwards of $100, assuming you can find a copy..

With a PPC processor, your browser options are limited. As you've found out, Chrome is Intel only (and has only ever been Intel only) as is Firefox. Many around here recommend TenFourFox which is, in essence, the most recent version of Firefox ported back to the PPC processor and OS X 10.4. Give that a try and see if it meets your needs.

TenFourFox is your only upgrade that I can think of in Tiger. OSX 10.5 Leopard will cost you a lot as many are after it driving the price through the roof!

Download TenFourFox and see if that solves it for you. It's as Van said the latest Firefox ported over to Power PC.

What speed is the CPU on that iBook G4? How much RAM?

Here's a link to TenFourFox: http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/

But as you've already discovered, a computer that old (less so PC than Mac, but still) will have real problems accessing the more advanced parts of the web (HD video is out, Flash is out, etc), and the machine is pretty old for most new software (though if you can find apps that are contemporaneous to the OS you're running, those old apps will run great).

Unless it's one of the last of the iBook G4 line, I would have to say it's not worth sinking any money into.